


Calling of the Sea

by ladyelfriede



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bitterness, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Pirate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-04 23:45:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyelfriede/pseuds/ladyelfriede
Summary: When Kul Tiras ships start vanishing out of nowhere, Lord Admiral Jaina Proudmoore sets out to investigate the mysterious disappearances. Jaina quickly finds she gets more than she bargained for when she is taken prisoner by the undead pirates of the Banshee's Wail, and forced to work together with its bitter captain, Sylvanas Windrunner, in an attempt to save her homeland. Rated M for later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I said I wasn't going to do any more multi-chapter fics but here we are! I actually bothered to set out a decent plot for this one, but I can't say in how many chapters I'm going to spread it. Anyway, this is my first WoW fic and since I haven't played the game it's possible some character interactions seem a little ooc or unrealistic, but I'm trying my best to make everything as close enough to characterization as possible!

Yet another vanished ship. Yet another report on its disappearance with its cause unknown. Lord Admiral Jaina Proudmoore despised putting her signature under them; they were her responsibility, and to leave the island of Kul Tiras without answers on how ship after ship had vanished into thin air would not stop gnawing at her. Many nights had been without sleep, tossing and turning as countless questions moved through her mind. Had she overlooked something? Was there pirate activity she had not been properly informed of? Had not all pirate ships and crews with regional ties been identified? Not long after a third ship had vanished, tales in the town began speaking of a ghost ship. A ship manned by the dead, looking for victims to take down with them to the bottom of the sea. Hogwash, naturally. The dead were gone forever, and for them to return from the beyond to man a ship was impossible. With a frustrated sigh Jaina slammed her quill onto her large wooden desk. A loud knock on the door followed quickly after.

“Who is it?”  
“It’s Vereesa, Lord Admiral.”  
“You may enter.”

Vereesa Windrunner entered the Lord Admiral’s office, closing the door behind her and saluting at her superior.

“Lord Admiral Proudmoore, I came to see you with a question about your most recent order. May I?”  
“Go ahead, Vereesa.”  
“I understand the grave situation our island finds itself in with so many of our best ships disappearing, but is it truly wise to follow suit yourself?”  
“If I cannot protect those that serve me Vereesa, what good am I as Lord Admiral? They are my people, and thus my responsibility. I cannot send another ship after those that have preceded it, knowing there is a fair chance it will never return to us.”  
“Lord Admiral…”  
“Are you worried about me, Vereesa?”  
“Is there no way I can change your mind about this?”  
“What is the alternative? I can send no more scouting parties and to ask for aid and risking the lives of our allies is no option either.”  
“At least allow me to come with you, ser.”

Jaina smiled lightly, raising from her chair to stand in front of her first mate. She placed a hand on Vereesa’s shoulder, causing the elf to look at her.

“Is that what you wish? What about your children, what will happen to them if you perish? This might very well end up to be a suicide mission, Vereesa.”  
“I knew about the risks when I signed with the fleet, Lord Admiral. My children are also aware of this, and while I would not leave them behind, I cannot abandon my duty either. I have made my decision; if you wish to investigate the missing fleet, I will follow wherever you go.”  
“Very well. Where would the Daughter of the Sea and its captain go without its first mate, after all?”

Jaina dropped her hand from Vereesa’s shoulder and nodded.

“We shall depart for the open seas in seven days at most. Assemble the usual crew and ensure we will bring enough rations for at least several weeks. You know what to do otherwise, correct?”  
“Yes, admiral.”  
“Good, you are dismissed.”  
“I shall get to work immediately.”

Vereesa saluted once more before leaving Jaina’s office and closing the door behind her. Jaina sighed heavily as she slowly approached the large windows that gave her a stunning view of the ocean. She absentmindedly played with the small silver anchor that adorned her necklace. A soft hum of a song left her lips, the sun setting on the horizon and basking the admiral’s office in a warm light. Admiral Jaina Proudmoore balled the anchor in her fist, determination raging through her. She would bring the fleet home.

Vereesa naturally didn’t let her down: preparations were fully complete in the span of a mere three days, with all of the crew accounted for. The flag of Kul Tiras stood proudly atop the mast of the Daughter of the Sea, Kul Tiras’ strongest and fastest ship. The Daughter of the Sea was only allowed to sail out with the island’s admiral at its reigns, a position given from parent to child in the Proudmoore family for many generations. It would not be Jaina’s first journey on the ship, nor its first voyage where she would be leading it, yet every time she would set foot on its deck a sense of pride would wash over her. This was her ship, as it was her father’s before her. Her father, who had perished in a pirate attack many years ago, his position then carried onto his wife until Jaina was ready to take up the mantle of Lord Admiral.

“Lord Admiral Proudmoore!”  
“Ah Vereesa, is everything ready?”  
“Aye ser, the blessings for a safe journey have been given, all crew is on board, weapons have been stored appropriately and all food and water has been accounted for.”  
“Excellent.”  
“I have a letter for you too, ser. It’s…from your mother.”

Jaina chuckled lightly as she took the envelope from Vereesa, the curly handwriting on it so distinctively her mother’s.

“Mothers never stop worrying, do they?”  
“It would seem so, ser.”  
“You tell me, Vereesa.”

This made Vereesa laugh, Jaina giving her a smile in return.

“The ever-watching eye of a mother never wavers, ser.”  
“Especially not when it concerns Katherine Proudmoore.”  
“I never said that, ser.”“Oh, I know fully well. Words can have an underlying meaning, Vereesa.”  
“Admiral!”  
“I’m joking, naturally!”

The tips of Vereesa’s long pointy ears twitched lightly in embarrassment, quickly changing the subject of their conversation.

“We’re ready to sail, ser. By your orders.”  
“Very well. Then let us depart. Men, to your stations!”

Jaina’s voice boomed across the deck, as if magically enhanced. Many men and women who had been chatting quickly got on their feet and dashed across the ship, loosing ropes and pulling in the anchor. Jaina’s eyes moved to the docks, where she found her mother looking up at her. Her eyes seemed sad, but also proud as she waved her daughter goodbye. Jaina’s saluted, aware that if it were up to her mother, she would not be leaving the harbor of Kul Tiras today. However, as the former admiral’s wife, she knew the duties that an admiral faced and the sacrifices that were often asked of one. As she left her mother and Kul Tiras behind her, Jaina for the first time ever wondered whether or not she was going to see her mother ever again.

The first few days of their journey had been rather…boring, much to Jaina’s displeasure. There were no pirates, for they had driven them off several years ago. Yet, there were no Kul Tiras ships in sight either. The open seas were calm and showed no sign of recent disturbances. No wreckages, no nothing. Surely ships didn’t vanish out of thin air?

“Vereesa, what’s our location?”  
“We’re leaving our current territory, but there are no islands nearby. We can only keep our eyes peeled for potential wreckage, if we assume the worst has happened to our men.”  
“Right, let’s keep going north.”  
“Aye, admiral.”

It was then that, almost out of nowhere, the clear blue sky above them was replaced by incredibly dark clouds.

“A storm?”, Jaina wondered aloud, Vereesa frowning as she studied the unnaturally dark sky above them.  
“No, this doesn’t seem natural. Storms never appear out of nowhere like this.”  
“Then we should be cautious. ’Tis best we turn around and make for Kul Tiras before we get swept into something we cannot control.”  
“Admiral?”  
“Yes, Vereesa?”  
“Do you hear that? That low rumbling sound…It almost seems like it’s coming from below us.”

It almost felt like an earthquake, if Jaina had to compare it to anything. The wood under her boots began to tremble and creak slightly, increasing in intensity as the skies grew so dark it was hard to see ahead.

“This is bad news, admiral. We must turn immediately!”  
“Men, we’re turning around!”

The moment Jaina pulled at the wheel in an attempt to change the ship’s course, the vibration under her feet intensified to the point where she had grab a tight hold of the wheel not to tumble over. One of her men looked over the railing of their ship, letting out a cry of disbelief.

“ADMIRAL! There’s a…there’s a ship sailing under the surface of the water!”  
“How many times have I told you to stop smoking that garbage!”, another crew member retorted as he joined the man at the railing. He then fell silent. “Blimey.”

With that, a bowsprit rose from the water, the force of its appearance above the surface creating strong waves that crashed into the side of the Daughter of the Sea. With another massive wave it completed its ascension, now sailing right next to the pride of Kul Tiras. Jaina took a quick look at the vessel, her eyes wide as she saw the state that it was in. It almost seemed like a ship made of the remains of another, its exterior covered in seaweed and algae. Atop its mast flew the dreaded black flag, adorned with skull and bones. A pirate ship had sprung from the sea out of nowhere, and was now ready to blow the Daughter of the Sea to smithereens. The loud creaks of the ship’s canons pushing through the wooden hatches confirmed Jaina’s last thought before she looked at Vereesa.

“Oh…right, admiral. Unfortunate. Bloody pirates.”  
“Well…shit.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jaina had barely enough time to instruct most of the ship’s crew to duck before the cannons fired their first shots. The force of the impact caused Vereesa to topple over the balustrade of the upper deck, Jaina’s quick reflexes allowing her to grab a hold of her first mate’s wrist.

“Vereesa!”

Jaina’s used all of her strength to pull Vereesa back up before taking a tight hold of the wheel. The members of her crew looked at her expectantly, waiting for her directions with a clear panic in their eyes.

“What do we do, admiral?!”  
“Men! Arm the cannons! Prepare for combat!”  
“Better make it quick, too!”, Vereesa added, pointing her finger at the first member of the strange ship’s crew climbing aboard the Daughter of the Sea. The cannons had only just fired, and now they were already being boarded so quickly it almost seemed…inhuman.

When the first pirate climbed over the ship’s railing, Vereesa aimed her pistol at the intruder. The first bullet hit its mark, the pirate falling backwards into the sea by the impact of the shot.

“To arms, men!”, Jaina shouted before making a sharp turn in an attempt to disrupt the pirates’ balance. The sounds of steel clashing and bullets firing filled the air, the sudden harsh storm making it hard for Jaina to direct the Daughter of the Sea to a course that would allow her to ram the ship of their attackers. Vereesa had left her side, now fighting alongside the rest of the crew. When Jaina locked eyes with her, Vereesa’s gaze seemed fearful.

“Admiral! I…they keep coming back!”  
“What do you mean, they keep coming back?”  
“Every time I throw one off the ship or hit it in the bloody head with a bullet! There’s one fighting right there with two bullets in her brain! We have to escape!”  
“I’m trying my bloody hardest, but this damn storm isn’t helping!”

Their conversation seemed to pique the interest of one of the pirates, her eyes now locked on Jaina. She grinned when she spotted the necklace, kicking the woman she had been fighting aside before launching herself onto the upper deck. Jaina let go of the wheel and rolled out of the way of the sudden attack. She drew her sword in a fluid motion, easily blocking the pirate’s rash strikes. Her next move was just as predictable, making it easy for Jaina to disarm her opponent. She retaliated by skewering her sword through the pirate’s chest, pushing her off the blade before tossing her limp body aside. When the other woman stopped moving, Jaina finally managed to get a decent look at who they had been fighting.

The ship’s crew seemed to be made up of only elven women, but they were no elves like Jaina had ever seen. The color of their skin was sickly pale and it seemed to be covered by some sort of ashen taint. Their eyes were empty and glowing, as if their entire being was being kept together by some sort of ancient, forbidden magic. Despite the heavy injury the woman was not bleeding, nor did she show any other signs of being recently deceased. It was then that the truth, no matter how bizarre, became clear in Jaina’s mind. The stories circulating Kul Tiras hadn’t been mere legends.

“Undead! Vereesa, they’re all undead!”  
“They’re cursed corpses, admiral!”  
“How do we get rid of them?!”  
“That’s the problem right there, admiral. You can’t.”

The cold barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of Jaina’s skull. Jaina carefully turned her head, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the pirate she had just killed standing behind her with a triumphant grin.

“Tell your crew to stand down, or I’ll blow your brains out.”  
“You think I wouldn’t give my life for the chance that my men might live?”  
“Oh, there’s a chance alright. I mean, we’re not going to kill _all_ of them, I suppose. Or are we? I can never really tell, it depends on the captain’s mood. I do have to say, the amount of ships you’ve been sending us to pillage has put her in rather good spirits as of late.”

The pirate’s voice was filled with venom, her mocking tone making Jaina ball her fists in fury. On the lower deck all fighting had seized, both the pirates and her own crew now looking at her as they waited for her to act. Most of her crew was held at gunpoint or had a sword pressed to their throats, their eyes making silent pleas at her. The way her men looked at her made Jaina feel like she was their last chance at survival. Given the current circumstances, she most probably was. Jaina let out a heavy sigh before she spoke.

“Vereesa!”  
“Yes, admiral?”  
“Stand back.”  
“Are…are you sure, ser?”  
“The responsibility is mine, Vereesa.”  
“Aye…so be it. Get down!”

With movement that was faster than any of the pirates could blink, Vereesa fired a single round into the pirate’s hand as Jaina threw herself to the floor. The impact made the woman drop the pistol while Jaina’s hands crackled with sparks of blue energy. Jaina slammed her palms down onto the wooden deck, and with the chanting of a few words all of the pirates suddenly stopped moving.

“Excellent work admiral!”

Jaina didn’t respond; instead she pressed her hands together, forming an orb of warm light between them. She directed it towards the lower deck, where most of the pirates still seemed flabbergasted by their current disability. Their moving eyes indicated that they were trying their very best to break free, but Jaina’s spell kept them under total control. The orb expanded, creating a portal in its wake.

“Quick, get through!”, Jaina shouted at her crew. “That’s an order!”  
“But admiral…!”  
“The binding spell will not last much longer, do not argue with me now! Get through the portal if you wish to come out of this alive!”  
“We can’t just leave you, admiral!”  
“What part of ‘ _that’s an order_ ’ do you not understand?! Now go!”

Though most of her men were clearly troubled by the fact that they would have to leave their admiral behind, they obeyed her in the end. One by one her crew members stepped through the portal, leaving for the safety of Kul Tiras’ harbor. When only she and Vereesa remained, the elf refused to follow the others.

“Vereesa…”  
“I’m sorry ser, but…this is one order I cannot obey.”  
“I figured you might, given how stubborn you are.”  
“A first mate goes wherever their captain goes.”  
“That’s no rule, Vereesa.”  
“But it is _mine_.”

With that, the portal closed and the pirates regained their ability to move. It did not take long for several of them to launch themselves at Jaina and Vereesa, restraining the both of them before tying their hands together with thick ropes. When both had been disarmed and tightly secured, the storm disappeared as quickly as it had formed, as if by command. One of their assailants pulled Jaina to her feet roughly, a toothy grin showing on her face.

“The pride of Kul Tiras and her first mate, what a catch! We might get some good coin for the both of you yet.”  
“Go to hell”, Jaina hissed, her response earning her a blow to the head with the back end of a pistol. She groaned in pain as her vision grew white ever so briefly.

“Easy there, Anya. No need to bring broken goods aboard our ship, you hear me? Now, move them across!”  
“Aye ser!”

The elves put a wooden plank between the ships, escorting Jaina and Vereesa across. The two of them exchanged looks of unease as they set foot on deck of the pirate ship. The ship’s deck looked as old and worn as the exterior, the darkest areas lit by a magical green flame. The pirates that had not boarded the Daughter of the Sea cheered as their brethren brought their latest catch aboard, the mere viciousness of it visibly unnerving Vereesa. Jaina nodded at her first mate in reassurance, straightening her shoulders as she strode past the undead. They stopped in front of a door that obviously lead to the interior of the ship, one of their captors knocking on the door and stepping inside by herself. Vereesa shuffled closer to Jaina as much as her captor’s grip would allow it, leaning in to speak in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t like the look in their eyes, admiral.”  
“They are pirates Vereesa, there’s no good to anything they tend to do. If they wish to gain coin from our capture, it is in their best interest to keep us alive and unharmed.”  
“And what if they don’t?”  
“I can always attempt to negotiate with their captain.”  
“Are you sure they would even listen to you, admiral?”  
“That’s why I suggested an attempt, Vereesa. There’s no guarantee it would work.”  
“How about your magic? Can’t you just teleport us out of here?”  
“Believe me, I’ve been trying for as long as the minute they bound us. It’s not working for some damn reason, though.”  
“You’re not the first mage we’ve caught on this ship”, one of their captors replied with an amused smile. “Did you truly think we didn’t seal your magic immediately once we captured you, admiral?”

The elf spoke the title with a mocking tone, but Jaina decided it best not to respond to the taunt. It was then that the other elf stepped back onto the deck, not closing the door behind her.

“Our captain wishes to speak with you, human.”  
“On what terms will we be speaking, exactly?”  
“You are not in the position to demand any terms, human. Now, be a good girl and get your ass inside. If it depended on me I’d have let the both of you walk the plank already.”

The elf behind her released the tight hold on her arm and gave her a little shove. Jaina toppled forward, trying her best not to fall into the room face-first. The door was shut behind her by the elf that had seemed to have some sort of command over the other crew members. The room she had entered was completely devoid of any daylight and felt terribly cold, even through Jaina’s thick coat. Then again, the undead probably had no need of any source of heat or light.

“An admiral, was it?”

Jaina looked up, her eyes falling upon the figure seated across from her. At a large wooden desk sat a woman who could not be anyone else but the captain of the ship. If her clothing had not made it apparent, then the mere authority coming off of her posture definitely would have. Like the other elves, her eyes were glowing an eery red color. She wore a toothy grin, which exposed her fangs. The round hat atop her head had been cut on its sides to make room for her long, pointy ears. She sat back as if she had not a care in the world, her legs crossed onto her desk as she took Jaina in from head to toe. She quickly got onto her feet, slowly approaching Jaina as she spoke.

“Well, well, we’ve caught ourselves an admiral. And who might you be?”  
“Lord Admiral Jaina Proudmoore of Kul Tiras. And _you_ are in violation of the pirate code.”  
“Are you going to arrest me, admiral? I’d suggest you try to get those ropes off of yourself first.”

Jaina’s glare seemed to satisfy the captain as she began to circle Jaina in an almost predatory way.

“The Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras no less! Quite a shame you managed to teleport your entire crew off of the ship though, we might’ve gotten a better bargain for the whole lot of you.”  
“We are no cargo! Do not speak of us as such.”  
“With all due respect my dear, you do not have much room to negotiate here. I will say I am impressed though, putting the lives of your crew before your own. In my many years aboard this ship I have seen very little like it.”  
“I have no need of your compliments.”

The captain pressed her gloved hand against her chest, feigning shock.

“Oh dear…how cruel you are! If I still had a beating heart, this is where it would break.”  
“How about you stop your games and tell me what you want from me. Besides, _you_ have a lot of explaining to do. How does your ship sail at the bottom of the sea, how are you all undead and…who _are_ you, even?”

The pirate captain leaned in close enough for Jaina to see dark marks shaped like tears under her eyes that seemed to be etched into her skin. Her playful demeanor disappeared and made way for a dark look in her gleaming red eyes. When she spoke, her voice was laced with malice.

“You ask too many questions for a mere captive, girl. Don’t forget who’s in charge here; I could snap your neck in a matter of seconds if I so desired.”

The woman pressed her pointer finger under Jaina’s chin, forcing her to meet her captor’s eyes. Jaina took a step back, hissing at the contact.

“I suppose I could answer one of your questions before I’ll have you taken to the dungeon. We are indeed all undead. Cursed, you could call it.”  
“I’ve heard about the undead…even about the undead ghost ships.”  
“There is merely this one.”  
“Then…this truly is the Flying Dutchman?”  
“It was named that once, yes. It belonged to someone else then, now it is mine. You are aboard the Banshee’s Wail, and you would do well to remember that. However, I don’t see how that is any of your concern.”  
“But if you’re the Flying Dutchman, why are you sinking ships?”  
“I’m a pirate, what do you assume it is we do, lady Proudmoore?”  
“This cannot be the Flying Dutchman. Unless, the tales were false.”  
“Oh, so what are the tales that the living tell of us?”  
“They say the Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship, charged with guiding the souls of dead sailors and pirates to the afterlife. Clearly they were mistaken; you seem more interested in sending them to the afterlife in other ways.”

The captain let out a soft chuckle before she replied.

“Very clever. What you speak of is a duty that this ship has not performed for many ages, and I have no intention to change that. I suggest you stop believing in those Kul Tiras fairytales, lady Proudmoore. Areiel!”

The door to the captain’s lodge opened, revealing the elf that Jaina suspected to be the ship’s first mate.

“Aye captain?”  
“Bring the other prisoner inside.”  
“Will do.”

Vereesa was pushed inside with the same roughness that Jaina had been, her first mate cursing at the undead elf under her breath. When she took a single look at the captain she froze, her eyes growing wide in shock.

“Vereesa?”, Jaina asked, realizing she was obviously missing something. The captain merely smiled before bowing.

“It has been a while, little moon.”  
“S-Sylvanas?! That’s…no…you’re _dead_!”  
“It didn’t quite stick, I’m afraid.”  
“Wait, you two know eachother?”  
“Oh, she hasn’t told you, has she?”, the captain named Sylvanas spoke with venom in her voice that was clearly reserved for Vereesa. “I’m not surprised. Vereesa, why don’t you introduce me to your lovely admiral?”  
“Admiral…I…”  
“Who is she, Vereesa?”  
“She’s…Sylvanas. Sylvanas Windrunner…my sister.”  
“Wait…your sister?! But Alleria…”  
“Did Vereesa never tell you that she had two sisters, admiral? There’s Alleria of course, and then there’s me. The sister she betrayed and would have preferred to stay dead.”  
“That’s not true Sylvanas! I didn’t-”  
“You didn’t betray me? You didn’t want to forget about me, little moon?”

The nickname was spat out with so much underlying raw anger that it made Jaina involuntarily shiver in fear. Vereesa’s head hung low, tears prickling in her eyes as she refused to look at her sister.

“I’ve heard quite enough”, Sylvanas spat, a low growl coming from her bared teeth. “ _AREIEL_!”  
“Aye captain?”  
“Bring our dear admiral to her cell. For her first mate however, I have a couple of tasks that need to be fulfilled. Have her scrub the deck by hand, all by herself. And have Anya supervise her so she does it _properly_.”  
“Your deck looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in years!”, Vereesa retaliated.  
“Thus more reason for you to do your very best, little moon. Take them away!”  
“Sylvanas, wait!”

Jaina struggled against her bonds when Vereesa was dragged away by the woman named Areiel, raising her voice at Sylvanas.

“You can’t just do this!”  
“I definitely can. Welcome to the Banshee’s Wail, Jaina Proudmoore. I cannot guarantee you will enjoy your stay, nor can I tell whether it will be temporary or a little more…permanent.”  
“You shrewd-!”

With that, Sylvanas turned her back to her and Jaina was hauled off to her new prison. She was pushed into her cell, the door of the iron cage closing loudly behind her. The undead elves walked away without sparing her a second glance and Jaina sank to the floor with her head buried in her hands.

For the first time in many years, Jaina felt genuine fear. Sylvanas Windrunner, captain of the Banshee’s Wail, was without a doubt the most dangerous of pirates she had ever encountered. Under her playful and mocking demeanor lay a rage and fury strong enough to create a storm. No matter how much it terrified her, Jaina knew she had to stay strong. Not only for herself, not only for Vereesa.

For Kul Tiras.


End file.
